Not sure about the sector right here. Could be ripe for profit taking. we were forced out of TWST with a pretty good gain. I still really like that name... Hummm maybe our total s 57<-- I have to check./// The most fascinating name to me is private and I think called Loyal<-- I'll Double check they are in trials with a pill that extends old dog's lives<---------!!
Anti-aging drug for dogs in the works: Meet Boo, the 1st dog taking the pill Boo, the first dog to try LOY-002, an anti-aging drug in the works (Courtesy of Loyal) Loyal, a first-of-its-kind anti-aging drug in the works to extend the life of dogs, has reached a key milestone: senior dogs across the U.S. are taking the pill as part of a clinical trial. Boo, an 11-year-old whippet from Pennsylvania who competes in a dog sport called scent work, is the trial’s first participant.
Posted March 21, 2024 $125M to extend dog lifespan Today we are announcing Loyal’s $45M Series B. Thank you, Wall Street Journal, for the excellent piece. This round brings Loyal’s total financing to over $125M. I started Loyal four and a half years ago as a naive 24 year old with an idea that literally had people laugh in my face — FDA-approved dog lifespan extension drugs. Since then, Loyal has created the first regulatory path for a lifespan extension drug, earned FDA acceptance of the effectiveness dossier for LOY-001, been on the cover of WIRED, and dosed the first dog in our pivotal lifespan extension study. I am so proud of the precedent we have set and the scientific rigor we have brought to an extremely challenging and important problem. Our $45M Series B was led by Bain Capital Ventures, a new investor in the company who brings growth and consumer expertise. We welcomed Valor Equity Partners (Jon Shulkin) as a new investor. And Khosla Ventures (Vinod Khosla), First Round Capital (Josh Kopelman), Box Group (Greg Rosen), Quiet Capital (David Greenbaum + Daniel Gruneberg), Collaborative Fund (Craig Shapiro), and Todd & Rahul, doubled or tripled down on their previous investments in the company. The round was near 2X oversubscribed and at a significant markup to our 2021 Series A.1
I don't think M&A is gonna slow down in biotech. I know you hate AI... but if there is one area (I think there's several actually) that it will really benefit humanity, it will certainly be its use in the forward modeling of molecular biology which heretofore took years.
Wow. That's very interesting. I wonder what it does? Or what it targets. Anti-aging is a wide brush-stroke. Obviously there's dozens of things that can be fatal to dogs, just like humans. Hmph. Keep an eye on that one Stoney. When Bill Gates kicks in some bucks.... we'll know they're on to something beyond doggies.
That is true. Until we get there these companies will be using more and more AI to not hire people. and voice is huge and that's SOUN's game.. when you call the cable company and talk to a computer.
LOY-001 for larger dogs targets IGF-1, a hormone that drives cell growth. Large dogs have higher levels of IGF-1, according to Loyal, and it’s believed to accelerate aging and reduce large dogs’ lifespans. LOY-001 works to reduce IGF-1 levels in large dogs.
Loyal’s experimental drug is an injection designed to be given every three to six months by a veterinarian. The drug is meant to lower levels of a hormone called IGF-1, which is involved in growth and metabolism and has been linked to dog size. Large dogs have a genetic variant that leads to high levels of IGF-1 and small dogs have a different variant that results in lower levels. Inhibiting this hormone has been shown to increase lifespan in worms, flies, and rodents. In humans, both very high and very low levels increase mortality risk, while a midrange is associated with the lowest mortality. In early studies, Loyal dosed 130 research dogs with its investigational drug. Halioua says the company has shown that it can reduce IGF-1 levels in large dogs to those seen in medium-size dogs. Two dogs had loose stools for a day or two after receiving the injection, but beyond that, Halioua says, no major side effects have been observed. To determine the drug’s effect on lifespan, the company is planning a bigger study that will start in 2024 or 2025, and enroll about 1,000 large and giant breed companion dogs that are at least 7 years old. Each will receive either the experimental drug or a placebo.